Excerpts:
Purpose of the reserach
The research reported here is part of an ongoing longitudinal study in collaboration with the Regional Municipality of, Peel, the Peel District School Board and the Dufferin-‐Peel Catholic District School Board. For three years, the research has been examining the implementation and impact of school-‐based integrated early childhood services, specifically kindergarten, child care and parenting support inthe Peel Best Start program (Region of Peel, 2011). The Best Start study builds on the previous work of our research team in the Toronto First Duty project (e.g., Corter & Pelletier, 2010; Pelletier, 2012). In 2010, the Peel research expanded to include full-‐day early learning/kindergarten
(FDELK).
The purpose of the FDELK research is to examine the implementation and impact of FDELK in three areas: 1) kindergarten children, 2) parents of FDELK children, and 3) staff teams of early childhood educators and kindergarten teachers as well as environment quality. The study is being carried out over time from JK/SK until children are in Grade3. This report provides preliminary information on Year 1 of FDELK implementation when children were in JK or SK.